Domestic travel versus int'l
Domestic travel is believed to be the main driver of tourism after things come back to the new normal in India. This was the focal point at TRAVTALK’s second Digital Conclave on April 21, where panellists agreed that a number of things needed to be reasse
While domestic tourism is believed to be the first travel segment to recover once the COVID-19 crisis is put behind us, it is still not considered an ‘elite’ activity, especially by seasoned travellers. The segment itself needs a dynamic overhaul if we are to promote it among India’s discerning outbound travellers.
Re-define domestic tourism
Sharing his views during the second TravTalk Digital Conclave on April 21, President, Association of Domestic
PP Khanna,
tourism—states and hotels. For hotels in India, we only have one request that they should have a uniform rate for both online and offline travel agents. They should not quote direct discounted rates to clients, especially corporates. The aim should be to promote domestic tourism in India, for which hotels can offer add-ons like upgrades, offerings for special occasions, etc., to clients. During this period of lockdown, the hotels can also organise knowledge sessions with the domestic tour operators.”
He added that the states, on their part, could showcase their make our packages cheaper than those of other countries. Airlines, too, have a very important role in doing that because they have high prices during season,” Khanna explained.
Even Chairman, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), believes that there will be a lot of apprehension in the minds of people in travelling far off, because they will fear getting stuck or being quarantined. He said, “I feel that there will be a major shift towards domestic tourism from international tourism. These are unprecedented times and are tough for everyone. We could have never imagined such a scenario. Ever since I started my journey in tourism in 199394, the word ‘tourism’ meant inbound tourism. It was all about people coming from international shores. Now that transport has stopped completely, international travel has come to a grinding halt, so has domestic travel.”
Ashwani Lohani,
- PP Khanna
Dealing with competition
Hotel room fares in India are much higher than those in other countries, especially in Southeast Asia where for the same price one can get a better product. If it’s cheaper to travel internationally, how can one expect domestic tourism to flourish is a question that comes quick to the mind.
Kerrie Hannaford,
Vice President Commercial, Accor (India & South Asia), says that before anything else, one needs to build the consumer’s confidence on health and safety checks, and to let everybody know and understand what has been certified and what is the certificate of health.
“We need to come together as an industry so that travel agents, who are the authority and the one source our consumers can rely on to get information, get everything they need. The hotels
need to work very closely, as a community. Hence, anyone who engages with the consumer needs to have that certificate of health. That’s our number one priority,” she explains.
Once these health measures have been established, one needs to redefine the value proposition being offered to the consumer as well as the travel agency. “There is a perceived value that it’s best to travel abroad rather than stay in your own backyard. What we need to do collectively, with our consultants, is to become absolute experts in offering something unique and bespoke. There must be those ‘surprise & delight’ moments for our customers. Here, the perception of value for money is going to be crucial. It is also important to know what unique experiences we can give to consumers, whether they are from the same city or have travelled from another end of the country. How the travel agent community helps us to establish that uniqueness is important, so that we can sell something to a consumer. As we step towards that level of recovery, that’s what people are going to want. They want to be able to ‘feel’ the value and it doesn’t matter whether it is a $50 hotel or a $100 hotel. They only want to ensure if they are getting that connectedness, that personalisation, and as an industry, we need to come together and build that confidence for consumers,” she explains.
Lohani says that right now, instead of crossing borders, pure domestic tourism will be favoured. “When flights start taking off will be the right time to come up with new campaigns covering many destinations. What is required is to position domestic travel right. Let the effect of COVID-19 start fading, and only then should we start a campaign. Under the PPP